In response 'Lunch with the FT: James Gorman', by Tom Braithwaite on 22nd May 2015
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1c68512-ffa7-11e4-bc30-00144feabdc0.html
Seven years on, "I don’t think they’ve got enough credit for it,”...neither do I Mr Gorman. Let's hear it for:
1. Ben Bernanke, the Fed Chair who understood the lead-up to the great depression so well he couldn't spot a bubble in 2005/6/7
2. Tim Geithner, the chairman of the NY Fed who in May 2007 was advocating a reduction in the capital required to run banks
3. Hank Paulson, the Treasury Secretary who in July 2008 said “it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation”, and on August 10th 2008 told 'Meet the Press' that he had no plans to inject any capital into Fannie or Freddie, a full three weeks before they went into conservertorship.
But the thing they should all receive most credit for is the tireless way they ran around Washington convincing a clueless President and a reluctant but ultimately manipulable Congress that in order to save capitalism, they needed to destroy capitalism. They saved their own skins and turned moral hazard into the new religion...in the best interests of the people of course.
Now in 2015, as evidenced by the fines levied and the waivers issued this week - the corruption, the abuse of the rule of law, and the complicity between Wall Street and Government is as virulent as ever. The latest crop are still doing what they do best - looking after the interests of their cartel.